News & Stories
Abu Dhabi. Call of the desert – with red sand this time. The Liwa desert near Abu Dhabi contains minerals, iron and salt. Therefore, the dunes have a red colour and desert walks are very romantic at sunrise. Two generations ago, Bedouins were living here, today it is tourists. This is because there is a luxury hotel at the edge of the desert: the Qasr Al Sarab - the "palace of miracles". In order to get there, you have to use powerful jeeps – no trace of classical camel romanticism. The distance from the city is one of the greatest challenges for Anantara Hotels, the Thai operator of Abu Dhabi’s first desert resort – besides the fact that the guests rarely stay for two nights. The hotel, built as a majestic fort, rises above the sand; its 206 rooms are sprawled over a spacious two kilometres. This is the next logistical challenge. About the miracles of a palace of wonders in the fairyland of Abu Dhabi.
Zurich. Classic congresses, conferences and conventions are event forms which look back on a long tradition. They're tried and trusted and very accepted. And in future too, in spite of – or perhaps even because – of the omnipresence of electronic means of communication, there will be a strong need for meetings in person. A table, put together by Swiss researchers, summarises future congress trends.
Johannesburg. The 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa ended 11 July with Spain crowned as the new champion, but which hotel market came out on top? The results show a picture of mixed performance among the various host cities across South Africa and between match and non-match days.
Hamburg. After only 16 months, the Club Aldiana in Bad Griesbach in the Bavarian Forest is set to close. A legal battle with Hartl Resorts is already making its way through the courts. On a group level, Thomas Cook has positive news: It has bought 100 percent of the tour operator Oeger Tours specialised in Turkey.
Hoernum/Sylt. A "fish factory" is what the locals are calling the sharp, wooden-panelled building located on the fringes of Hoernum harbour on the German isle of Sylt. Others complain that they are only let as far as the reception in the hotel. For the Budersand Hotel - Golf & Spa on Germany's most popular holiday island, Sylt, the second summer season has begun, and many new guests will feel: First impressions from outside are deceptive. The 79-room hotel between the dunes and tideland gives the guest a feeling of homeliness, indulgence, transparency and space. With 60 million EUR for hotel and 18-hole golf course, the project is one of the most expensive single hotel investments in German-speaking Europe.
Rome. Italy offers enormous potential to investors and operators alike: the hotel market is fragmented and has a huge accumulation of necessary renovations, mainly in the middle-class segment. However, investors are almost only interested in luxury hotels and the banks are reluctant. At the same time, Italy has got everything a tourist destination needs: history, art and culture as well as mountains, lakes and the ocean, sunshine and excellent cuisine. In 2009, 43.2 million international tourists came to Italy. In doing so, Italy is one of the most visited countries in the world – after France, the US, Spain and China, but ahead of Great Britain, Turkey and Germany.
Johannesburg. South Africa's tourism experts present positive figures at the end of the Football World Cup 2010. The Wold Cup was an entire success for them. Nonetheless, many new hotels will have to struggle with low occupancy figures.
Frankfurt/Berlin. For eleven years, the German National Tourist Board has been carrying out international and national marketing for Germany. Domestic marketing will be cut from 2012, as the federal states’ ministers of economic affairs are short of money and prefer keeping it for themselves. German tourism threatens to fall back into the stone age of marketing. In contrast, Europe is expanding its marketing efforts.
Munich. The hotel market is moving forward again. Following the economic downturn, the first signs of recovery are now in evidence, and new constellations are emerging in the market. Experts at the "Hospitality Industry Dialogue" at Expo Real 2010 will be revealing just what the new attractive markets, concepts and locations look like. This will be the ninth meeting so far of insiders in the international hospitality sector; it takes place on Monday, 4 October 2010 at Europe's leading real estate fair in Munich. Last year, about 1,000 visitors attended the hotel conference.
Frankfurt. The "Business Travel Show", a leading German trade fair for business travels, will be staged in spring in future. The introduction of Europe's biggest hosted buyer programme for the business travel market has also been announced.